MOSCOW (AP) — The latest news from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s end of year news conference. All times local.
12:50 p.m.
President Vladimir Putin says the Syrian people themselves must determine who rules the country.
Putin, who met U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry earlier this week, said at a news conference Thursday that Moscow supports a U.S. draft of a U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria. He says a new constitution for Syria must be drafted, and a new election prepared in which the Syrians themselves will determine its leadership.
He adds that Russia believes that a political settlement is the only way to end the Syrian crisis.
Putin says Russia and the U.S. agree on the need to ensure work on a new constitution and create mechanisms of control over future elections.
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12:45 p.m.
President Vladimir Putin says Turkey acted contrary to its own interests by downing a Russian warplane. Speaking at a televised news conference Thursday, Putin said that he sees no possibility of overcoming the diplomatic strain under the current Turkish leadership.
He says that Russia had been willing to accommodate Turkey’s interests and said he was stunned to see that Ankara hadn’t tried to explain its action and immediately turned to NATO for help instead.
Putin says the deployment of Russian air defense missiles to Syria has put an end to violations of Syrian airspace by Turkish military aircraft
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12:30 p.m.
President Vladimir Putin says he says no need for a significant shake-up of his Cabinet. Speaking Thursday at a televised news conference, Putin said the Cabinet is coping well with the economic crisis and he sees no need to revamp its membership. He said drastic personnel changes would do no good.
Russia’s economy is set to decline by 3.8 percent this year, and the average income in Russia dropped this year for the first time in Putin’s rule.)
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12:10 p.m.
President Vladimir Putin says that Russia’s economy is showing signs of stabilization despite plummeting oil prices.
Putin, speaking Thursday at a news conference televised live, said that despite a GDP drop caused by a drop in global oil prices, Russia’s main commodity, the nation’s industries have started to rebound.
He said the nation’s currencyy reserves stand at $364 billion and a capital outflow has slowed.
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